January 2005, Week 3
-- We Have Seen the Future, and It Works Without Windows

This is the time of year when
columnists like to – nay, are expected to – look into the future and
tell the world what’s coming. This is despite the advice of the late
Will Rogers, who remarked: “Never make predictions, especially about the
future.”

Ok, let’s stick our
neck out a wee bit. In this case we’re going to mention not so much
what’s coming as what may be going. The thing that struck us most about
the enormous growth in online holiday sales is that roaming the Internet
has become a primary use of the computer. It may be the primary
use. In that case, the choice of operating system loses significance. To
get right to the point, you can access the worldwide web with any
operating system: Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.

This brings into
question the longtime dominance of Microsoft’s Windows. It will still be
important to business, which has so much time and money invested in
Windows programs, but of diminishing importance to the home user, who
really doesn’t care how they get on the web. In fact, getting on the web
with a system other than Windows, with its built-in Internet Explorer
browser, will actually be an advantage, since other systems are less
vulnerable to attacks by viruses and spyware.

This situation should
be good for Apple’s Macintosh systems, at least for the moment. Perhaps
with this very thought in mind, rumors are rampant that Apple is about
to introduce a Mac for less than $500, or maybe it’s less than $600,
depending on whose rumor is getting the most press. Of course there are
already Windows computers selling for less than $500 and they’ve been
around for some time. A jolly good price war is about to start for one
and all.

Meanwhile, back
at the old security shed…

We recently had a
rather acrimonious exchange with someone from D-Link Systems, who
demanded the immediate return of their latest wireless equipment when we
indicated we had strong reservations about wireless networking and
Internet access. We just weren’t on the team, their spokesman told us,
in so many words. He meant their marketing team, of course. And here we
didn’t even know we were supposed to be working for them. Boy, are we
naïve.

One of the primary
problems with wireless is that it’s not secure. Sure, you can make a
wireless system secure, but most of them ship with that feature turned
off, and many people don’t turn it on. A study last year found that
upwards of 80 percent of home users do not use the security features of
their wireless network and Internet access routers. This is usually
because it’s so hard to figure out how to do it.

What does it mean that
it’s not secure? Well, a wireless system is a radio station! Anybody
else with a wireless computer system running less than 150 to 200 feet
away can watch whatever you’re sending and receiving. They can also use
your wireless system for their own online computing. They can even make
it appear that emails they write and orders they submit are coming from
you and respond to them. They can ask for and collect any personal
information you send. Is this an open invitation theft – the fastest
growing nonviolent crime in America? Does this open you up to legal
liabilities? Are you kidding? As we all nervously tap our fingers,
Broadcom,
www.broadcom.com, is supposed to release a new way to secure home
systems.

So in the
meantime, what’s a fella to do?

Our attention was drawn
to a program from OTO Software that can monitor who is using your
wireless Internet access and block them if you want to. It’s called
Wi-Fi Defense and sells for $30 from OTO; there’s a 30-day free trial as
well.

The software lets you
know who is on your network and how often they are using it. Some of
those people will be known to you: yourself for one; family and friends
for another. But if you see a TIVO connected and you know no one in your
household has one, you can block them by adding them to a list labeled
“foes.” If you know you have three computers in your wireless network
and the Wi-Fi Defense software shows that four are using the network,
something is rotten in Denmark, and we don’t mean fish. You can identify
the rotter because the software has previously asked you to give names
to all the computers in your own network. You can see a demo of Wi-Fi
Defense at
www.otosoftware.com.

Coming soon to a
cell phone near you

Just to show you
there’s room for more paranoia, we’ll turn to cell phones. Cell phones
are wireless receivers. They are also transmitters. Duh, another radio
station. Everything you send that’s not encrypted can be picked up and
understood by another receiver. That includes your phone number. Soon to
appear in great numbers (we’re back in the prediction business again)
will be unsolicited ads and probably pornography sent to your cell
phone. You will be delighted to learn that under some subscription
payment plans you’ll be charged for receiving ads you didn’t want. You
will also begin to receive cell phone viruses. (Is this the end of
Western civilization as we know it? Or just the end of chatter about
what else to get at the supermarket?) One small protection: Go to
https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx and add your cell phone
number to the “do not call list.”

And finally, a
word about stupid kid stuff

We look at a lot of
children’s programs. So do the children we send them to. Regardless of
age, the same thing drives us nuts. In an open outcry to the makers of
software for children --- PLEASE LET US TURN OFF THE INSTRUCTIONS!

Every game starts off
with spoken instructions on what keys work what, how to find clues, how
to move the main character, etc. That’s fine; it’s the fourth or fifth
time we hear those instructions that drives everyone nuts. We have
watched children clap their hands over their ears as the game starts up
again with instructions and music they’ve heard a dozen times before.
Some turn down the volume until the instructions are over. Sometimes
they’d rather not play the game than have to listen to the opening
drivel. Please cut it out or put in an escape key.